Madrid officially joins race for 2016 Olympics

MADRID: Spain's Olympic Committee has approved Madrid's candidacy for the 2016 Olympics, two years after it lost a bid to host the 2012 Games to London.

The Spanish capital will now compete against other international cities for the right to host the sports event.

Chicago, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil have already been approved as candidates by their national Olympic bodies while other possible bidders include Doha in Qatar and Prague in the Czech Republic.

The final winner will be chosen by The International Olympic Committee in October 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bids must be submitted by September of this year.

The next Olympics will be held in Beijing, China in 2008.

Madrid finished third in voting for the 2012 Games in July 2005, which the British capital eventually won over Paris.

The conservative mayor of the Spanish capital, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, yesterday said the city's fresh bid would be "radically new" and better than the previous one both in terms of infrastructure and fan reception.

Madrid is one of the only major European capitals which has never staged the games.

The northeastern Spanish port city of Barcelona hosted the Olympics in 1992.